


Not That Bad

by thatsmyverb



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, College, F/M, Jily!AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-23 06:19:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14928807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thatsmyverb/pseuds/thatsmyverb
Summary: Based off of this prompt: Character A and B are rivals, enemies, etc. in a school. Neither of them can remember why one of them hates the other, but every time they see each other it seems as though they go to war in a second. One fight lands them outside the headteacher's or nurses's office which turns awkward when ten minutes of solid silence pass until one of them realises that the staff member is going to be a long time and begrudgingly strikes up conversation. The two get talking and find out that neither of them were really bad at all.





	Not That Bad

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first work on Archive of Our Own, but I have posted fics to FanFiction.Net.
> 
> -
> 
> Based off of this prompt: Character A and B are rivals, enemies, etc. in a school. Neither of them can remember why one of them hates the other, but every time they see each other it seems as though they go to war in a second. One fight lands them outside the headteacher's or nurses's office which turns awkward when ten minutes of solid silence pass until one of them realises that the staff member is going to be a long time and begrudgingly strikes up conversation. The two get talking and find out that neither of them were really bad at all.

The accident was not her fault.

But then again, it wasn't entirely Potter's fault either.

'We'll split it 50/50', Lily Evans thought, before re-considering. 'Okay, more like 60/40'.

The Chemistry Incident, as it would later be known as, was one of the worst Professor Slughorn had seen. Or at least, that was what he had shouted at them as he sent them to both the nurse's and the principal's office. After Madame Pomfrey gave them the all clear, Lily and Potter headed down to the principal's office. They were told by his secretary to wait and did so, uncomfortably. This prompted Lily to think about the days events and how she had ended up, for the third time at this school, outside the principal's office with Potter.

The day had begun normally, and Lily had been having a good one, right up until Chemistry. Usually Tuesday afternoon Chemistry was her favourite. Tuesday was the day they did experiments and this excited Lily. They never did the same thing twice, a very nice change from the boring routine of school. Until Professor Slughorn decided it was okay to partner her with her arch- enemy, James Potter.

Even as Lily looked back now, she wasn't really sure why she and Potter hated each other so much. She deduced that it must have been a number of small things and that was why she couldn't remember exactly. Satisfied with her answer, she went back to reliving the events of day. Lily wasn't really sure what degree Potter was doing, or how he ended up in her Advanced Chemistry class, but she did know that she was going into medicine and her best subject was Chemistry. So naturally, Potter should follow her lead, right? Instead, he decided to be a buffoon and attempt something completely off-topic to what the teacher told them to do. Well maybe not completely, but you get the picture.

Lily, having none of this, went to stop him. Here was where it grew fuzzy. In her mind, he pulled back and it all sloshed over the side. In his, as he had told the nurse, she grabbed it out of her hand but he restrained and the chemical ending up sloshing over the side. Either way, they had ended up with some sort of foam all over the table and both Lily and her partner under the table to protect themselves.

Old Sluggy must be exaggerating, Lily thought, because there's no way that was the worst he had seen. Although, she reconsidered, we don't know how harmful the foam is.

Beside her, Potter cleared his throat, alerting her to the fact that years-old rivalry or not, they were in this together.

"I don't think Professor Dumbledore's going to see us for a while."

"Why not?" Lily asked hostilely.

"He's in a meeting with Professor McGonagall. We'll be here for a while."

"I don't see how you got one from the other," Lily said, frowning.

"McGonagall's vice-principal," Potter stated, as if that cleared everything up.

"So?"

"If it was something quick and easy, she'd have gotten it done already. Instead she's taken it to Dumbledore, which means it needs a lot of thought and attention."

"That... actually makes sense," Lily said slowly.

Potter leaned back in his chair in satisfaction. Another few tense moments passed.

"Potter..." Lily began hesitantly, before letting her curiosity take over. "What exactly are you studying."

"Well I could asked you the same thing Evans."

There was a pause before Lily relented.

"I'm doing medicine. What about you?"

"Guess," Potter said infuriatingly.

"Well, Chemistry must be important, 'cause you managed to get into Advanced Chem."

Potter nodded, both to agree and to motion for her to carry on.

"You and Black share a flat, and he's in my Biology class."

"I'm so touched you know my roommate agreements Evans."

Lily rolled her eyes before continuing.

"I also know you're friends with Remus because he spends most of our class complaining about you and Sirius."

"What do you have with Remus?" James asked.

"Physics. Come on Potter, what do you study?"

"I'm training to be a Forensic Scientist."

"Really? I've heard that really interesting."

"It is actually, but it's a lot of hard work. How is medicine?"

"Grand. A lot different than I anticipated but I love it."

Another few minutes passed.

"Potter-"

"It's James. My name's James, Evans, you can use it."

"Well then James. My name is actually Lily."

"Really?" James asked sarcastically. "I never knew!"

"Ha ha," Lily replied deadpanned.

"Anyway, you were saying?"

"Why are we even fighting in the first place?"

"I'm..." James faltered. "I'm not actually sure."

"I don't suppose..." Lily hesitated. "I don't suppose we could be friends?"

"You know what Evans? I wouldn't mind that at all."

"James, I said you could call me Lily."

"It's a habit."

There was a more awkward pause.

"Evans. Can I have your number? Not to ask you out," he rushed, "but I have all my mates' numbers-"

He was cut off by Lily's laughter.

"Sure James."

She unlocked her phone and passed it over. He fumbled slightly before typing it in. James then texted himself from Lily's phone, so he had her number. He passed Lily back her phone.

The door to the principal's office opened and the two jumped, after forgetting where they were.

A while later, after getting off the hook from Dumbledore with a twinkle in his eye, Lily got a text from James. She was in bed and had been about to go to sleep when her phone pinged.

James: Hey Evans, fancy being my permanent Chem partner?

Lily: I think Sluggy would have a coronary.

With that she shut off her phone and turned off her light.


End file.
